Columbine

Nearly two months ago I tweeted a picture of the sketch of a new project, columbine, tonight I finally unpinned it from my interlocking frame and washed it. It felt like there should be some sort of ceremony, a celebration, but in actual fact I was far too busy doing ten things at once. I did allow myself a quiet 'woohoo'!

This was the first time I have used an interlocking embroidery frame and I was a little worried it wouldn't hold tight, but once I had pinned it I got that nice drum sound when tapped.

I was also concerned about the lines in the fabric created by the drawing pins but these should come out when I wash and stretch it later.

I thought this might take me a couple of weeks but as soon as I started the stem I knew I was in for the long haul.

So, I drew on my direction lines then started with the furthest petal away. With a little guidance from Trish Burr's book on long and short stitch embroidery I ploughed on.

Each stitch is so tiny I can't do it without my magnifying lamp, even with it I have had to start wearing my glasses more often. Does anyone else get crazy shaky eyes when they are tired?

As I said, I finally finished it today, and with this I am launching my own website, my own little domain. Please do visit and if you are able to leave a comment I would love some feedback: www.loveinidlenessart.co.uk

Columbine, Aquilegia vulgaris, a tall, branching plant with large, distinctive flowers, usually blue or violet-blue. It is widespread across Britain although truly wild columbine have become uncommon due to the spread of the garden plant. Wild columbine is a typical cottage garden plant and seeds freely in the right environment.
The petals, when looked at from the base, are said to look like five doves sat in a ring and the name columbine actually derives from 'columba' meaning 'dove'. As such, it was a popular choice to put in church carvings.
In medieval times, columbine was apparently thought to be eaten by lions - rubbing the flower on your hands thus gave you a lion's courage.
Source: http://www.plantlife.org.uk/wild_plants/plant_species/columbine/

Banners and logos

I am so sorry I have neglected you, I have been so focused on sewing the columbine you may have seen on Flickr that I felt I had nothing of interest to write about. 

However, I thought I would write about some ideas I have been playing with. For awhile now I have wanted my own website, I feel so scattered and fragmented, I am in so many different places, Folksy, Etsy, Blogger, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Madebyhandonline etc that I feel a little bit of a nomad. I want a home of my own.

I am a bit of a technophobe but I have found a host company called Mr Site and their starter package promises to be simple and easy to use.
I want to take my time with my little business, I am the tortoise not the hare in this story (let's hope the story end as well for this tortoise), I have to be a Mum to two small children as my full time job. With my website I want to take my time and come up with a basic, simple site that can be a good starting point.

After a few days of fretting over domain names, someone had already registered the obvious one for me, I have picked my address. I shan't tell you yet as the site is not active.

Next, my logo, what do I want at the top of my page? I love my Etsy banner, I love the vibrant colours, but my work has moved on a little since then. So I have been playing with ideas using my columbine. I need something simple but vibrant and that immediately give an idea of my work, so...

What do you think?